THE EARLY HISTORY OF ATHENS.
I. THE LEGISLATION OF DRACO.
As we have already stated, the successive encroachments on the
royal prerogatives that followed the death of Co'drus, and that
finally resulted in the establishment of an oligarchy, are almost
the only events that fill the meager annals of Athens for several
centuries, or down to 683 B.C. "Here, as elsewhere," says a
distinguished historian, "a wonderful stillness suddenly follows
the varied stir of enterprise and adventure, and the throng of
interesting characters that present themselves to our view in the
Heroic Age. Life seems no longer to offer anything for poetry to
celebrate, or for history to record." The history of Athens,
therefore, may be said to begin with the institution of the nine
annual archons in 683 B.C. These possessed all authority, religious,
civil, and military. The Athenian populace not only enjoyed no
political rights, but were reduced to a condition only a little
above servitude; and it appears to have been owing to the anarchy
that arose from the ruinous extortions of the nobles on the one
hand, and the resistance of the people on the other, that Dra'co,
the most eminent of the nobility, was chosen to prepare the first
written code of laws for the government of the state (624 B.C.).
Draco prepared his code in conformity to the spirit and the interest
of the ruling class, and the severity of his laws has made his
name proverbial. It has been said of them that they were written,
not in ink, but in blood. He attached the same penalty to petty
thefts as to sacrilege and murder, saying that the former offences
deserved death, and he had no greater punishment for the latter.
Of course, the legislation of Draco failed to calm the prevailing
discontent, and human nature soon revolted against such legalized
butchery. Says an English author, "The first symptoms in Athens of
the political crisis which, as in other of the Grecian states,
marked the transition of power from the oligarchic to the popular
party, now showed itself." Cy'lon, an Athenian of wealth and
good, family, had married the daughter of Theagenes, the despot
of Megara. Encouraged by his father-in-law's success, he conceived
the design of seizing the Acropolis at the next Olympic festival
and making himself master of Athens. Accordingly, at that time
he seized the Acropolis with a considerable force; but not having
the support of the mass of the people the conspiracy failed, and
most of those engaged in it were put to death.
* * * * *
II. LEGISLATION OF SOLON.
The Commonwealth was finally reduced to complete anarchy, without
law, or order, or system in the administration of justice, when
Solon, who was descended from Codrus, was raised to the office
of first magistrate (594 B.C.). Solon was born in Salamis, about
638 B.C., and his first appearance in public life at Athens occurred
in this wise: A few years prior to the year 600 the Island of
Salamis had revolted from Athens to Megara. The Athenians had
repeatedly failed in their attempts to recover it, and, finally,
the odium of defeat was such that a law was passed forbidding,
upon pain of death, any proposition for the renewal of the
enterprise. Indignant at this pusillanimous policy, Solon devised
a plan for rousing his countrymen to action. Having some poetical
talent, he composed a poem on the loss of Salamis, and, feigning
madness in order to evade the penalty of the law, he rushed into
the market-place. PLUTARCH says, "A great number of people flocking
about him there, he got up on the herald's stone, and sang the
elegy which begins thus:
'Hear and attend; from Salamis I came
To show your error.'"
The stratagem was successful: the law was repealed, an expedition
against Salamis was intrusted to the command of Solon, and in
one campaign he drove the Megarians from the island.
Solon the poet, orator, and soldier, became the judicious law-giver,
whose fame reached the remotest parts of the then known world,
and whose laws became the basis of those of the Twelve Tables of
Rome. Says an English poet,
Who knows not Solon, last, and wisest far,
Of those whom Greece, triumphant in the height
Of glory, styled her father? him whose voice
Through Athens hushed the storm of civil wrath;
Taught envious Want and cruel Wealth to join
In friendship, and with sweet compulsion tamed
Minerva's eager people to his laws,
Which their own goddess in his breast inspired?
--AKENSIDE.
Having been raised, as stated, to the office of first archon,
Solon was chosen, by the consent or an parties, as the arbiter
of their differences, and invested with full authority to frame
a new Constitution and a new code of laws. He might easily have
perverted this almost unlimited power to dangerous uses, and his
friends urged him to make himself supreme ruler of Athens. But
he told them, "Tyranny is a fair field, but it has no outlet;"
and his stern integrity was proof against all temptations to
swerve from the path of honor and betray the trust reposed in him.
The ridicule to which he was exposed for rejecting a usurper's
power he has described as follows:
Nor wisdom's palm, nor deep-laid policy
Can Solon boast. For when its noblest blessings
Heaven poured into his lap, he spurned them from him;
Where was his sense and spirit when enclosed
He found the choicest prey, nor deigned to draw it?
Who, to command fair Athens but one day,
Would not himself, with all his race, have fallen
Contented on the morrow?
The grievous exactions of the ruling orders had already reduced
the laboring classes to poverty and abject dependence; and all
whom bad times or casual disasters had compelled to borrow had
been impoverished by the high rates of interest; while thousands
of insolvent debtors had been sold into slavery, to satisfy the
demands of relentless creditors. In this situation of affairs the
most violent or needy demanded a new distribution of property;
while the rich would have held on to all the fruits of their
extortion and tyranny. Pursuing a middle course between these
extremes, Solon relieved the debtor by reducing the rate of
interest and enhancing the value of the currency: he also relieved
the lands of the poor from all encumbrances; he abolished
imprisonment for debt; he restored to liberty those whom poverty
had placed in bondage; and he repealed all the laws of Draco
except those against murder. He next arranged all the citizens
in four classes, according to their landed property; the first
class alone being eligible to the highest civil offices and the
highest commands in the army, while only a few of the lower
offices were open to the second and third classes. The latter
classes, however, were partially relieved from taxation; but in
war they were required to do duty, the one as cavalry, and the
other as heavy-armed infantry.
Individuals of the fourth class were excluded from all offices,
but in return they were wholly exempt from taxation; and yet they
had a share in the government, for they were permitted to take
part in the popular assemblies, which had the right of confirming
or rejecting new laws, and of electing the magistrates; and here
their votes counted the same as those of the wealthiest of the
nobles. In war they served only as light troops or manned the
fleets. Thus the system of Solon, being based primarily on property
qualifications, provided for all the freemen; and its aim was to
bestow upon the commonalty such a share in the government as would
enable it to protect itself, and to give to the wealthy what was
necessary for retaining their dignity--throwing the burdens of
government on the latter, and not excluding the former from its
benefits.
Solon retained the magistracy of the nine archons, but with
abridged powers; and, as a guard against democratical
extravagance on the one hand, and a check to undue assumptions
of power on the other, he instituted a Senate of Four Hundred,
and founded or remodeled the court of the Areop'agus. The Senate
consisted of members selected by lot from the first three classes;
but none could be appointed to this honor until they had undergone
a strict examination into their past lives, characters, and
qualifications. The Senate was to be consulted by the archons
in all important matters, and was to prepare all new laws and
regulations, which were to be submitted to the votes of the
assembly of the people. The court of the Areopagus, which held
its sittings on an eminence on the western side of the Athenian
Acropolis, was composed of persons who had held the office of
archon, and was the supreme tribunal in all capital cases. It
exercised, also, a general superintendence over education, morals,
and religion; and it could suspend a resolution of the public
assembly, which it deemed foolish or unjust, until it had undergone
a reconsideration. It was this court that condemned the
philosopher Socrates to death; and before this same venerable
tribunal the apostle Paul, six hundred years later, made his
memorable defence of Christianity.
Such is a brief outline of the institutions of Solon, which exhibit
a mingling of aristocracy and democracy well adapted to the
character of the age and the circumstances of the people. They
evidently exercised much less control over the pursuits and
domestic habits of individuals than the Spartan code, but at the
same time they show a far greater regard for the public morals.
The success of Solon is well summed up in the following brief
tribute to his virtues and genius, by the poet THOMSON:
He built his commonweal
On equity's wide base: by tender laws
A lively people curbing, yet undamped;
Preserving still that quick, peculiar fire,
Whence in the laurelled field of finer arts
And of bold freedom they unequalled shone,
The pride of smiling Greece, and of mankind.
Solon is said to have declared that his laws were not the best
which he could devise, but were the best that the Athenians could
receive. In the following lines we have his own estimate of the
services he rendered in behalf of his distracted state:
"The force of snow and furious hail is sent
From swelling clouds that load the firmament.
Thence the loud thunders roar, and lightnings glare
Along the darkness of the troubled air.
Unmoved by storms, old Ocean peaceful sleeps
Till the loud tempest swells the angry deeps.
And thus the State, in full distraction toss'd,
Oft by its noblest citizen is lost;
And oft a people once secure and free,
Their own imprudence dooms to tyranny.
My laws have armed the crowd with useful might,
Have banished honors and unequal right,
Have taught the proud in wealth, and high in place,
To reverence justice and abhor disgrace;
And given to both a shield, their guardian tower,
Against ambition's aims and lawless power."
* * * * *
III. THE USURPATION OF PISIS'TRATUS.
The legislation of Solon was not followed by the total extinction
of party-spirit, and, while he was absent from Athens on a visit
to Egypt and other Eastern countries, the three prominent factions
in the state renewed their ancient feuds. Pisistratus, a wealthy
kinsman of Solon, who had supported the measures of the latter
by his eloquence and military talents, had the art to gain the
favor of the mass of the people and constitute himself their
leader. AKENSIDE thus happily describes him as--
The great Pisistratus! that chief renowned,
Whom Hermes and the Ida'lian queen had trained,
Even from his birth, to every powerful art
Of pleasing and persuading; from whose lips
Flowed eloquence which, like the vows of love,
Could steal away suspicion from the hearts
Of all who listened. Thus, from day to day
He won the general suffrage, and beheld
Each rival overshadowed and depressed
Beneath his ampler state; yet oft complained
As one less kindly treated, who had hoped
To merit favor, but submits perforce
To find another's services preferred,
Nor yet relaxeth aught of faith or zeal.
Then tales were scattered of his envious foes,
Of snares that watched his fame, of daggers aimed
Against his life.
When his schemes were ripe for execution, Pisistratus one day
drove into the public square of Athens, his mules and himself
disfigured with recent wounds inflicted by his own hands, but
which he induced the multitude to believe had been received from
a band of assassins, whom his enemies, the nobility, had hired to
murder "the friend of the people." Of this scene the same poet says:
At last, with trembling limbs,
His hair diffused and wild, his garments loose,
And stained with blood from self-inflicted wounds,
He burst into the public place, as there,
There only were his refuge; and declared
In broken words, with sighs of deep regret,
The mortal danger he had scarce repelled.
The ruse was successful. An assembly was at once convoked by his
partisans, and the indignant crowd immediately voted him a guard
of fifty citizens to protect his person, although Solon, who had
returned to Athens and was present, warned them of the pernicious
consequences of such a measure.
Pisistratus soon took advantage of the favor he had gained, and,
arming a large body of his adherents, he threw off the mask and
seized the Acropolis. Solon alone, firm and undaunted, publicly
presented himself in the market-place, and called upon the people
to resist the usurpation.
Solon, with swift indignant strides
The assembled people seeks; proclaims aloud
It was no time for counsel; in their spears
Lay all their prudence now: the tyrant yet
Was not so firmly seated on his throne,
But that one shock of their united force
Would dash him from the summit of his pride
Headlong and grovelling in the dust.
But his appeal was in vain, and Pisistratus, without opposition,
made himself master of Athens. The usurper made no change in
the Constitution, and suffered the laws to take their course.
He left Solon undisturbed; and it is said that the aged patriot,
rejecting all offers of favor, went into voluntary exile, and
soon after died at Salamis. Twice was Pisistratus driven from
Athens by a coalition of the opposing factions, but he regained
the sovereignty and succeeded in holding it until his death
(527 B.C.). Although he tightened the reins of government, he
ruled with equity and mildness, and adorned Athens with many
magnificent and useful works, among them the Lyceum, that
subsequently became the famous resort of philosophers and poets.
He is also said to have been the first person in Greece who
collected a library, which he threw open to the public; and to
him posterity is indebted for the collection of Homer's poems.
THIRLWALL says: "On the whole, though we cannot approve of the
steps by which Pisistratus mounted to power, we must own that he
made a princely use of it; and may believe that, though under his
dynasty Athens could never have risen to the greatness she afterward
attained, she was indebted to his rule for a season of repose,
during which she gained much of that strength which she finally
unfolded."
THE TYRANNY AND THE DEATH OF HIP'PIAS.
On the death of Pisistratus his sons Hippias, Hippar'chus, and
Thes'salus succeeded to his power, and for some years trod in
his steps and carried out his plans, only taking care to fill
the most important offices with their friends, and keeping a
standing force of foreign mercenaries to secure themselves from
hostile factions and popular outbreaks. After a joint reign of
fourteen years, a conspiracy was formed to free Attica from their
rule, at the head of which were two young Athenians, Harmo'dius
and Aristogi'ton, whose personal resentment had been provoked by
an atrocious insult to the family of the former. One of the
brothers was killed, but the two young Athenians also lost their
lives in the struggle. Hippias, the elder of the rulers, now
became a cruel tyrant, and soon alienated the affections of the
people, who obtained the aid of the Spartans, and the family of
the Pisistratids was driven from Athens, never to regain its
former ascendancy (510 B.C.). Hippias fled to the court of
Artapher'nes, governor of Lydia, then a part of the Persian
dominion of Dari'us, where his intrigues largely contributed to
the opening of a war between Persia and Greece.
The names of Harmodius and Aristogiton have been immortalized
by what some writers term "the ignorant or prejudiced gratitude
of the Athenians." DR. ANTHON considers them cowardly conspirators,
entitled to no heroic honors. But, as he says, statues were erected
to them at the public expense; and when an orator wished to suggest
the idea of the highest merit and of the noblest services to the
cause of liberty, he never failed to remind his hearers of Harmodius
and Aristogiton. Their names never ceased to be repeated with
affectionate admiration in the convivial songs of Athens, which
assigned them a place in the islands of the "blessed," by the
side of Achilles and Tydi'des. From one of the most famous and
popular of these songs, by CALLIS'TRATUS, we give the following
verses:
Harmodius, hail! Though 'reft of breath,
Thou ne'er shalt feel the stroke of death;
The heroes' happy isles shall be
The bright abode allotted thee.
* * * * *
While freedom's name is understood
You shall delight the wise and good;
You dared to set your country free,
And gave her laws equality.
* * * * *
IV. THE BIRTH OF DEMOCRACY.
On the expulsion of Hippias, Clis'thenes, to whom Athens was
mainly indebted for its liberation from the Pisistratids, aspired
to the political leadership of the state. But he was opposed by
Isag'oras, who was supported by the nobility. In order to make
his cause popular, Clisthenes planned, and succeeded in executing,
a change in the Constitution of Solon, which gave to the people
a greater share in the government. He divided the people into ten
tribes, instead of the old Ionic four tribes, and these in turn
were subdivided into districts or townships called de'mes. He
increased the powers and duties of the Senate, giving to it five
hundred members, with fifty from each tribe; and he placed the
administration of the military service in the hands of ten
generals, one being taken from each tribe. The reforms of
Clisthenes gave birth to the Athenian democracy. As THIRLWALL
observes, "They had the effect of transforming the commonalty
into a new body, furnished with new organs, and breathing a new
spirit, which was no longer subject to the slightest control
from any influence, save that of wealth and personal qualities,
in the old nobility. The whole frame of the state was reorganized
to correspond with the new division of the country."
On the application of Isagoras and his party, Sparta, jealous
of the growing strength of Athens, made three unsuccessful attempts
to overthrow the Athenian democracy, and reinstate Hippias in
supreme command. She finally abandoned the project, as she could
find no allies to assist in the enterprise. "Athens had now entered
upon her glorious career. The institutions of Clisthenes had given
her citizens a personal interest in the welfare and the grandeur
of their country, and a spirit of the warmest patriotism rapidly
sprung up among them. The Persian wars, which followed almost
immediately, exhibit a striking proof of the heroic sacrifices
which they were prepared to make for the liberty and the
independence of their state."